Transgender Entrepreneurship Barriers and Support: A Qualitative Study

Main Article Content

Farhan Qadir
Shafaq Arif Chaudhry

Abstract

The core focus of this study is the exploration of the available barriers and possible support for transgender entrepreneurship in Pakistan. The twenty-five (25) transgender entrepreneur were interviewed, who had quit dancing, acting, begging and commercial sex work and stared a business venture. While employing the grounded theory (qualitative methodology), the finding of the study suggested the transgender entrepreneurs face unique barriers that can hinder their entrepreneurial journey, spanning across six (6) major dimensions including economic, social, legal, educational, market and psychological. On the other hand, the finding also suggest the possible support systems or mechanism, consisting of (6) main domains, including the government and legal support, financial support, non-governmental and non-profits organizational support, community and peer support, market access and visibility support, and finally psychological and emotional support. This article shed light on transgender entrepreneurship in Pakistan and also critical observed the major problems which restricting transgender individuals, to become entrepreneur, and their solutions which can help the transgender community to contribute in the ongoing social and economic progress of this country. The findings of this study also provide direction to the effort and support of government, civil society and none governmental organizations (NGOs) in promoting entrepreneurship among the transgender community of Pakistan. At the end of the study, the limitations and future research direction are discussed.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Article Details

Section

Articles

References

Abbasi, P., Yoosefi-Lebni, J., Jalali, A., Ziapour, A., & Nouri, P. (2021). Causes of the plagiarism: A grounded theory study. Nursing ethics, 28(2), 282-296. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733020945753

Ahmad, S. I., Ozturk, M. B., & Tatli, A. (2024). National context and the transfer of transgender diversity policy: An institutional theory perspective on multinational corporation subsidiaries in Pakistan. Gender, Work & Organization, 31(5), 1828-1844. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.13037

Akhtar, M., & Bilour, N. (2020). State of mental health among transgender individuals in Pakistan: Psychological resilience and self-esteem. Community mental health journal, 56(4), 626-634. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-019-00522-5

Al-Qudah, A. A., Al-Okaily, M., & Alqudah, H. (2022). The relationship between social entrepreneurship and sustainable development from economic growth perspective: 15 ‘RCEP’countries. Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, 12(1), 44-61. https://doi.org/10.1080/20430795.2021.1880219

Ali, T. S., Ali, S. S., Nadeem, S., Memon, Z., Soofi, S., Madhani, F., et al. (2022). Perpetuation of gender discrimination in Pakistani society: results from a scoping review and qualitative study conducted in three provinces of Pakistan. BMC Women's Health, 22(1), 540. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-022-02011-6

AlKhaza’leh, M. S. (2021). An outlook of each of the Islamic thought and the contemporary global thought on the human concept and rights. https://doi.org/10.36941/ajis-2021-0047

Altuzarra, A., Gálvez-Gálvez, C., & González-Flores, A. (2021). Is gender inequality a barrier to economic growth? A panel data analysis of developing countries. Sustainability, 13(1), 367. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010367

Anderson, V. N. (2023). What does transgender mean to you? Transgender definitions and attitudes toward trans people. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 10(4), 600. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000566

Archer, J. (2022). Childhood gender roles: Social context and organisation. In Childhood social development (pp. 31-61). Psychology Press. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315785042-3

Benhalim, R. (2023). Contract customization, sex, and Islamic law. Minn. L. Rev., 108, 1861. https://scholar.law.colorado.edu/faculty-articles/1642/

Bitzer, J. (2024). Gender and Orientation. In Medical Disorders and Sexual Health: A Guide for Healthcare Providers (pp. 13-26). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-55080-5_2

Bögenhold, D. (2020). Self-employment and entrepreneurship: Productive, unproductive or destructive? Against entrepreneurship: A critical examination, 19-35. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47937-4_2

Bosse, J. D., Dion, K. A., Campbell Galman, S., & Chiodo, L. M. (2022). Transgender and nonbinary young adults' perception of sibling and parental support for gender identity. Research in Nursing & Health, 45(5), 569-579. https://doi.org/10.1002/nur.22251

Charlesworth, T. E., Yang, V., Mann, T. C., Kurdi, B., & Banaji, M. R. (2021). Gender stereotypes in natural language: Word embeddings show robust consistency across child and adult language corpora of more than 65 million words. Psychological Science, 32(2), 218-240. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797620963619

Dutta, M. S., & Patil, K. (2024). Transgender Entrepreneurship: Challenges, Opportunities, And Impact on Developing Country Like India. Journal of Informatics Education and Research, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.52783/jier.v4i1.521

Galindo-Martín, M.-Á., Castaño-Martínez, M.-S., & Méndez-Picazo, M.-T. (2021). The role of entrepreneurship in different economic phases. Journal of Business Research, 122, 171-179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.08.050

Green, A. E., DeChants, J. P., Price, M. N., & Davis, C. K. (2022). Association of gender-affirming hormone therapy with depression, thoughts of suicide, and attempted suicide among transgender and nonbinary youth. Journal of adolescent health, 70(4), 643-649. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.10.036

Hsu, N., Badura, K. L., Newman, D. A., & Speach, M. E. P. (2021). Gender,“masculinity,” and “femininity”: A meta-analytic review of gender differences in agency and communion. Psychological Bulletin, 147(10), 987. https://psycnet.apa.org/buy/2022-23724-001

Hussain, S. (2023). Hijra, trans, and the grids of “passing”. Sexualities, 13634607231157071. https://doi.org/10.1177/13634607231157071

Iqbal, Z., Afzal, M. M., & Khan, A. R. (2024). The Role of Akhwuat Islamic Microfinance in Fulfillment of Basic Needs, Improving Living Standard and Promoting Self-Employment in Pakistan. Islamic Banking and Finance Review, 11(1), 22-46. https://doi.org/10.32350/ibfr.111.02

Iyer, U. (2022). Dance and Ludic Queerness. A Companion to Indian Cinema, 199. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119048206

Jadva, V., Guasp, A., Bradlow, J., Bower-Brown, S., & Foley, S. (2023). Predictors of self-harm and suicide in LGBT youth: The role of gender, socio-economic status, bullying and school experience. Journal of Public Health, 45(1), 102-108. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdab383

Khan, S. A. (2020). Transgender community in Pakistan: from marginalized “aliens/others” to empowered “Citizens”? Progressive Research Journal of Arts & Humanities (PRJAH), 2(2), 28-42.

Khan, W. A., Abbas, Q., & Ali, U. (2024). The Cost of Exclusion: How Poverty Leads Transgender Individuals to Begging, Dancing and Sex Work. Journal of Asian Development Studies, 13(2), 208-215. https://doi.org/10.62345/jads.2024.13.2.18

Kidney, E., McAdam, M., & Cooney, T. M. (2024). Everyday prejudices: an intersectional exploration of the experiences of lesbian and gay entrepreneurs. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-12-2022-1114

Köllen, T., & Rumens, N. (2022). Challenging cisnormativity, gender binarism and sex binarism in management research: foregrounding the workplace experiences of trans* and intersex people. Gender in Management: An International Journal, 37(6), 701-715. https://doi.org/10.1108/GM-01-2022-0022

Lemma, A., & Savulescu, J. (2023). To be, or not to be? The role of the unconscious in transgender transitioning: identity, autonomy and well-being. Journal of medical ethics, 49(1), 65-72. https://doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2021-107397

Lerner, A., He, H. Y., Kawakami, A., Zeamer, S. C., & Hoyle, R. (2020). Privacy and activism in the transgender community. Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Lewis, T. O., Barreto, M., & Doyle, D. M. (2023). Stigma, identity and support in social relationships of transgender people throughout transition: A qualitative analysis of multiple perspectives. Journal of Social Issues, 79(1), 108-128. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12521

Luibhéid, E., & Chávez, K. R. (2020). Queer and trans migrations. University of Illinois Press.

Majid, S., Rasool, A., Rasool, A., & Zafar, A. (2023). Social exclusion of transgender (hijra): a case study in Lahore (Pakistan). Pakistan journal of humanities and social sciences, 11(2), 814–824-814–824. https://doi.org/10.52131/pjhss.2023.1102.0393

McGleughlin, J. (2024). Transgender imagining and the danger of normative theory. Studies in Gender and Sexuality, 25(2), 129-142. https://doi.org/10.1080/15240657.2024.2346458

McMullen, J. S., Brownell, K. M., & Adams, J. (2021). What makes an entrepreneurship study entrepreneurial? Toward a unified theory of entrepreneurial agency. Entrepreneurship theory and practice, 45(5), 1197-1238. https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258720922460

Milionis, C., & Koukkou, E. (2023). Barriers and Challenges in Caring for Transgender People: Implications for Clinical Practice and the Experience From a Specialized Center. Journal of Doctoral Nursing Practice, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1891/JDNP-2021-0022

More, V. (2021). Problems of transgender community in India: A sociological study. Vivek Research Journal, 8(1), 87-94.

Narayan, S. (2022). Historical, Cultural and Socio-Legal Analysis of LGBTs in India. https://gisrrj.com/paper/GISRRJ203348.pdf

Nawaz, N., & Safdar, H. (2023). Transgender rights in Pakistan: a complete study under the Constitution and Pakistan Law. Pakistan journal of humanities and social sciences, 11(2), 1614–1630-1614–1630. https://doi.org/10.52131/pjhss.2023.1102.0467

Noreen, S., & Rashid, K. (2024). Access to education for transgender individuals in Pakistan: Cultural and institutional barriers. Annals of Human and Social Sciences, 5(1), 55-66. https://doi.org/10.35484/ahss.2024(5-I)06

Ramalingam, C. L., Haque, R., Jumbulingam, K., binti Salehhudin, N., Manickam, L., & Devasia, S. N. (2024). Gender Impeded: The Lived Experiences of Transgenders at The Workplace. International Journal of Religion, 5(4), 150-162. https://doi.org/10.61707/afg0gr17

Raza, I., & Awang, Z. (2020). Knowledge sharing in multicultural organizations: evidence from Pakistan. Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, 10(3), 497-517. https://doi.org/10.1108/HESWBL-09-2019-0114

Shahzad, M. F., Khan, K. I., Saleem, S., & Rashid, T. (2021). What factors affect the entrepreneurial intention to start-ups? The role of entrepreneurial skills, propensity to take risks, and innovativeness in open business models. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 7(3), 173. https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc7030173

Sharan, A. (2023). Disasters and the “Other Gender”: Exploring the Experiences of the Hijra Community in Disasters in India ResearchSpace@ Auckland].

Shuster, S. M., & Westbrook, L. (2024). Reducing the joy deficit in sociology: A study of transgender joy. Social Problems, 71(3), 791-809. https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spac034

Singh, B. (2022). Understanding legal frameworks concerning transgender healthcare in the age of dynamism. Electronic Journal of Social and Strategic Studies, 3, 56-65. https://doi.org/10.47362/EJSSS.2022.3104

Sohail, F., Abbas, M., Siddiqui, A. A., Khan, E., Rehman, A., & Ali, S. M. (2022). Entrepreneurial Challenges of Transgender Entrepreneurs in Pakistan. The journal of contemporary issues in business and government, 28(1), 194-204. https://cibgp.com/au/index.php/1323-6903/article/view/2292

Suleman, D., Kashif, A., Gul, S., Hamid, S., & Yunus, A. (2024). Navigating shadows: the impact of social stigma on the mental health of the transgender community in South Asia. Migration Letters, 21(1), 167-181. https://doi.org/10.59670/ml.v21i1.5171

Zhang, H., & Manosalvas, K. (2024). Queer Asian American Belonging and Narrative in Everything Everywhere All At Once (Kwan & Scheinert, 2022) and Sewing Patches Through Performance (D’Lo, 2021). Journal of Student Research, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v13i1.6339

Zwir, I., Del-Val, C., Hintsanen, M., Cloninger, K., Romero-Zaliz, R., Mesa, A., et al. (2022). Evolution of genetic networks for human creativity. Molecular psychiatry, 27(1), 354-376. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-021-01097-y